The true joy in life comes not from the accolades, finish lines or etc.
True joy is found on the journey toward our goals.
We may not realize it at the time, because putting in the work to get to where we want to go, is hard.
However, without the “struggle”, our achievements would be far less meaningful.
The award you win for completing a 10k would be a glorified paperweight if it was easy to achieve.
Even an Olympic medal would be just another shiny object if winning it was easy.
So, no matter how hard the struggle is now, realize that in the end, this time, this toil and this work you are putting in will truly lead to a more fulfilling life.
You will always presented with obstacles, or as my brother likes to call them “hurdles” in life.
They key is to just keep jumping. (Or in some cases, if that hurdle is meant for a giant, find another way around, under or through)
I truly hope you are not in the middle a huge tumultuous storm in your life right now, but if you are, I also hope you realize you have exactly what it takes to overcome, and to get to the calm on the other side.
You are THE ONLY person capable of living your amazing, exciting and challenging life.
I Read this today: “No matter what, you’ll never get today back”. Truth.
But I also think we can read that and think “we better make today amazing” and that’s not the best policy either.
I think the key is to know today whether an amazing day at work or a mediocre one at best, a day of sunshine, birds singing or stormy and cold. Today cannot be saved.
It must be savored.
So the best policy is to be fully IN it today. Be present, appreciate today for being today. Connect with others, give and receive some love and appreciate the fact that today is finite.
One huge thing I dislike about elections (especially this one) is the way they tend to AMPLIFY our differences and erode our common ground.
I truly believe we should all support who we want to support.
We should back ballot measures that align with our personal philosophies for our lives, our families, our communities and our futures.
What I dislike is the way that people can stand on their “side of the voting line” and cut off the other side completely.
We are entitled to our views and we are allowed to express those views.
It is disheartening that those views can break friendships, end conversations and erode our peace.
No matter where you put your stake into the ground on the issues, realize we all share that ground, even if where I plant my stake is far removed from where you plant yours.
I am hopeful, that regardless of the voting results, we can start focusing on the commonalities we all share and work toward lessening the divide between humanity rather than increasing it.
Regardless,
I hope you have a wonderful day today (as well as the vast majority of days moving forward 🙂
I just started reading: Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb (check it out here ) and I like it so far!
This line is great and bears repeating: “It’s not as if we’re going to peer in those darker corners, flip on the light, and find a bunch of cockroaches. Fireflies love the dark too. There’s beauty in those places. But we have to look in there to see it.”
So true!
I truly wish the stigma of mental health could be washed away.
Especially now, with all the craziness of the pandemic, disconnection, solitude, political and social turmoil…we need others to help keep our lives sane.
We need to talk to somebody.
I have gone to counselors and therapists numerous times.
It’s not because I am “crazy.”
It’s because I finally realized that with my drive to improve my life, my family’s life and to improve the world, sometimes I need different people riding shotgun, helping me navigate through my past, present and future.
Sometimes we need professionals to help guide us through the muck and mire.
And I, for one, am so thankful they are there and I have access to these people.
So please, if you are feeling stressed, depressed, low…know there are truly wonderful people out there that will help you see the fireflies in the darkness.
Don’t ever suffer alone.
The world needs you and holding it al in yourself isn’t helping anyone.
And again, sometimes it’s great to talk to someone just about your big dreams and aspirations and they can help you balance them all so ambition doesn’t drive you wild.
The achilles heel of almost every single individual. I can’t tell you how many times (because I haven’t actually counted, that would be kind of weird, but I know it is a lot) I’ve heard highly successful people/athletes state that they are their “own worst critic.” They are harder on themselves than any coach, boss or outsider could ever be. No problem there, because they use that criticism in a CONSTRUCTIVE manner. They use it as fuel to improve, to work harder and to grow. Too often, the average Joe/average Josephine are their own worst critics, but they use it not as a propellant to improve, but rather as a big truck full of cement to keep them right where they are.
Self doubt is rooted in fear. We are afraid to branch out in case we fail. But I honestly believe it isn’t the fear of failure that stops us, it’s the fear that someone (or multiple people) will see or know that we tried and failed. As I have stated before, we crave social connection and in fact need it for our very survival. Subconsciously, if we feel that could be jeopardized by a failure, we keep the opportunities to branch out closer to the trunk/on a short leash. There are two things very wrong with this thinking. 1) Most people don’t care what you are going to try and succeed or fail at. They are too busy living their own lives and worrying about what you will think of them. 2) The world needs what you haven’t figured you are amazing at doing yet.
Your untapped potential could be helping a lot of us (myself included) live our lives better. We are all connected on some level and your success will only aid mine. There is not a finite amount of happiness or talent or anything else ethereal, to go around. When you branch out and attempt new things (that you may be awesome at), you aren’t stealing them away from anyone else. And, let’s say you do attempt something new, and fail miserably. You fall flat on your face, creating a pancake where your nose used to be. There may be a couple of people who snicker a bit. There will be a few people who point out your shortcomings, and may be downright butt-holes about your failure, but the vast majority will come to your aid and help you prepare and execute your next attempt. The will to help and the power of positive connection will drown out any of the negative chatter one-hundred-fold.
In order to move into the next decade/century/millenium/day/week, we need YOUR innovation. We need YOUR intelligence. We need YOUR desire to improve. We need YOUR attempts, YOUR failures, and ultimately YOUR vast amount of successes. So doubt yourself all you want, but catch those doubts and see how you can use them to propel you forward, for the benefit of all of us.
“We need to stop should-ing 💩 all over ourselves!”
I loved it!
If you are exercising, reading, eating well, in a relationship, etc, because you feel you “should” be….stop!
Guilt is a repressor, not a motivator.
Instead, find reasons why you WANT to do those things. If you want to do them to form a brighter future, for instance, latch on to that, and let go of the “should.”
“People are chasing cash, not happiness. When you chase money, you’re going to lose. You’re just going to. Even if you get the money, you’re not going to be happy.” – Gary Vaynerchuk
I watched a keynote with Gary V in Malaysia this morning. I loved it!
He also said that we as a world population need to redefine success.It’s not about making a billion dollars, it’s about waking up in the morning happy and excited to “do” what you “do.”
Wishing you a successful Tuesday!
-Dr Lindeman
Firemore on this subject, here is an excerpt from my book, (one of the exercises at the end of the chapter “Lovin’ or Laborin’) Purposely Positive: How to Live an Intentional and Inspired Life, available on Amazon.
Purposely Positive Exercise: What Would You Do
Grab your notebook and do the following:
Answer this question:
What would you do with your life if you had an infinite amount of time and money?
Anything. Anything at all. Don’t think of any side-effects.
There are no anchors in this exercise.
Seriously, you’re going to live forever, and you have a quadrillion-gazillion dollar allowance every 2 hours.
Consider:
What would you do, today?
What about next week?
Three years from now?
What would you continually do?
What would your soul still yearn to accomplish?
What would you stop doing that you’re doing right now?
Dissemination of Inspiration 